The Violinist’s Thumb by Sam Kean

Friday

Aug 31, 2012 at 12:01 AMAug 31, 2012 at 3:54 PM

I’ve always been a humanities person and at college, I avoided the math/science continuum as much as I could. For me it was literature, philosophy and an accented dose of the social sciences which turned me on. Stories and storytelling were the keys to the meaning of life.

But when I ‘grew up’, I began to miss having a firm grounding in science. I developed an appreciation for the hard science of medical researchers and astronomers and computer engineers. I watched in amazement as scientists mapped the human genome in collaborative online open environments. And although still not a scientist, I began to read about science and scientific discoveries. I am fascinated by the Stephen Hawkings of this world.

If this describes you too, then you might enjoy the book The Violinist’s Thumb and other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean. It is a very readable exploration of the

history of genetics with behind-the-scenes stories of the scientists who discovered DNA.

Geneticists, it seems, attempt to explain all human behavior through one’s genes and inherited DNA. For instance what does Einstein’s brain say about his genius. And then there is the famous Belle Epoch Parisian artist, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, who emerged from royal families who famously married each other. “But these consanguineous marriages gave harmful recessive mutations a chance to crawl out from their caves.” With Henri’s parents being first cousins, it’s a wonder that he survived at all. But was his blighted childhood the root of his genius? Sam Kean says yes.

The title refers to Niccolo Paganini, the 18th century violinist, whose flamboyant, histrionic, performances resulted in his being hailed by critics of the day as the greatest violinist ever. His fantastically flexible wrists and fingers made his concerts the unmissable events of contemporary society. Kean states that his fiddling prowess was quite possibly due to the genetic disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which affects tendons and ligaments, making them less rigid, almost floppy.

And there are more stories. In a whimisical but eminently readable style, Kean relates the stories of other famous people who may have been who they were because of their inherited DNA. If you are biologically curious, as I am, then you will get a real kick out of The Violinist’s Thumb. Highly entertaining and highly recommended.

Kean, Sam, The Violinist’s Thumb and other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code, Little, Brown and Company, 2012.